CUNY opens emergency relief fund for struggling students with $2.75 million in private donations

Main entrance to CUNY, on Amsterdam Ave. at W. 138th St.

The City University of New York will dole out $500 grants funded by private donations to more than 1,000 low-income students struggling to make ends meet during the coronavirus pandemic, the Daily News has learned.

CUNY officials hope the new relief effort — started with two $1 million donations from the Dimon and Petrie foundations — will eventually grow to $10 million.

​“The coronavirus pandemic is having a devastating economic impact on many of our students, and this unprecedented emergency fund will provide rapid-response financial support to those who need it most,” said Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez.

About 14,000 students meet the “financial-need and academic criteria” for the grants, and will be in a pool from which recipients will be picked through a lottery, officials said.

Students who are eligible must be undergraduates within 12 credits of a degree, have a grade point average of at least 2.0, and whose families aren’t expected to contribute to tuition through the federal financial aid formula.

The initial round of grants will be for $600,000 and will go to 1,200 students, officials said. Checks and direct deposit payments will be disbursed next week and available to students by April 20.

In addition to the $2 million from the two foundations, CUNY’s new fund also received $750,000 from other donors, officials said. Other benefactors are being sought.

The $500 grants come on top of a recent City Council initiative to give $400 each to 1,600 community college students for food assistance.

The median household income for families of CUNY’s 275,000 students is $38,000. Close to 40% of students come from families earning less than $20,000 a year. Many CUNY students and their family members have lost jobs amid the pandemic and are struggling to meet basic needs, officials said.